Police: 'Organized Crime' Could Be Behind Rash Of Car Thefts

Is your car missing? You may
have been the victim of a mob hit. Through the end of August, auto thefts were
up 18 percent in San Francisco from the previous year, the San Francisco
Examiner reports today, and police think that "organized criminal
efforts" — the mob! The Yakuza! Russian computer hackers! — are behind it.

Of the more than 400,000 cars
registered in San Francisco, 4,344 were stolen between January 1 of this year
and the end of August. Northern Police Station Capt. Greg McEachern did not
name names, but did tell fellow police that this effort is
"organized," the Examiner reported.

In response, plainclothes
police are now staking out parking garages "seven days a week," on
the lookout for the bad guys. Those shady-looking guys hovering by your car at
Fifth and Mission could be police. This has already netted results: One such
car-stealing crew that's already been busted includes an outfit called the
"Zoo Block," a Bayview-based collection of ne'er do-wells who are
among the 397 arrests for auto theft made this year.

Meanwhile, some cars are safer
than others. Car thefts are up all over town, with the Excelsior and Outer
Mission neighborhoods — a car-friendly place right next to Interstate-280 —the
hardest-hit.

Of course, having your car
stolen is only the beginning of the car-free odyssey in San Francisco: once
police find it, they give you a phone call in which you are given 20 minutes to
come and get it. If your Uber is late or if you are simply too far away, you
can then look forward to paying $600 or so for the joy of recovering what's
yours from AutoReturn, the company that tows cars in the city.

San Francisco makes money off
of the arrangement with its tow company, to the tune of $30 million a year -- a
fine racket, indeed. Sup. Scott Wiener is trying to end this car cartel, so if
he disappears mysteriously, we know who to suspect.